Ken and three friends steal boards to make backstop for baseball field. Ken suffers from guilt & sees family lawyer who helps him develop respect for laws. Ken then helps other boys settle accounts with the construction company. Explains the importance of law in keeping order in a society. Shows that respect for the law is developed by a realization that law represents accumulated wisdom, that it is in harmony with laws of nature and that it is necessary to prevent trouble.

Director: Gil Altschul. Cameraman: Bruce Colling. Writers: Dick Creyke, Royal. Editor: George Wilbern. Narrator: Franklyn Ferguson. Educational Collaborator: Carter Davidson, Ph.D., President of Union College, Chancellor of Union University.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Director: Gil Altschul
Producer: Gil Altschul
Production Company: Coronet Instructional Films
Audio/Visual: sound, b&w
Keywords: need keyword

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: ERD. - - May 13, 2009
Subject: Effective for 1950 younsters
WHY WE RESPECT THE LAW was an effective basic film made to teach the 1950's youngsters why it's important to follow the laws. Well acted and directed.

Reviewer: Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid - - May 13, 2009
Subject: Review of the Reviewers
dynayellow - You seem to draw the strangest conclusions from reasonably simple lines. Me thinks you have an unhealthy obsession with 1950's consumerism (which was hilariously spoofed by Ernie Kovacs during the 1950's itself).
Steve Nordby - Your review is little more than political complaints that have nothing to do with this film. Oh yeah, and the President of the US at this time was a Democrat. So what do republicans have to do with this silly film?

Reviewer: Aadug - - May 13, 2009
Subject: Brilliant
What more is there to say? A lawyer is spouting "Respect for the law" with a straight face! Even decent and honest lawyers can't do that!

Reviewer: Spuzz - - March 21, 2005
Subject: "Give Me Your Shoes!"
A young whelp goes into a law office, to talk with a lawyer because, well he feels guilty about stealing some boards for his baseball field, and well, the lumber company won't miss them. "Give me your shoes" the lawyer barks, "what?" whippersnapper says. Lawyer says again, "Give me your shoes, you won't miss them"! The whelp understands, but the lawyer keeps on going and going using example after example of why stealing is bad and why the law is needed. Pretty soon, he talks the kid into convincing him and his fellow thieves to work to earn the wood. Very very strange, just a tad too long.
Bonus points for the house break in scene!

Reviewer: Steve Nordby - - October 13, 2003
Subject:
This film is great because it displays contradictictory opinions that behaviorists and Republicans hold: society's laws are the laws of nature, yet it's not a crime if you don't get caught! You see, it is your attitude and respect for the law that is the problem, not the laws themselves. Law is infallible, and you must be punished or you will not respect the law. Don't ruin your life! Obey! OBEY!

And so lawyer enlists poor Kent to snitch on his co-defendants. Yow!

Reviewer: dynayellow - - September 9, 2003
Subject: Law = Capitalism = Happiness
Kent steals some lumber from a construction site to build a backstop for his baseball team. He's not sure why the owner is raising such a ruckus about this, so he consults his father's lawyer.

In the most jaw-droppingly awful defense of the law ever put to film, the lawyer steals Kent's shoes, imagines a world where hillbillies attack homes at random, and makes the following deductions:

- The universe has physical laws, therefore laws are a part of nature.
- A child who starts out stealing pennies from his mother's change will end up an armed felon.

He actually says, "Peace and happiness are impossible unless our individual possessions are secure." So remember, things = happiness.

For pure 50s Cold War mentality, to steal a line from Spuzz, this is a MUST SEE on this site.